J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > West Country 1811 > Devonshire Coast, No.1 Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner A West Country Scene with Figures, Buildings and Trees 1811

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘A West Country Scene with Figures, Buildings and Trees’ 1811
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 155 Verso:
A West Country Scene with Figures, Buildings and Trees 1811
D08653
Turner Bequest CXXIII 152a
Pencil on white wove writing paper, 75 x 117 mm
Part watermark ‘Smy | 17’
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
There appear to be three figures to the right of centre, with the middle one bending over. It is not clear whether the thick, rather blunt strokes of this rapid sketch show a street, a farm yard or a waterfront scene, presumably somewhere in the West Country. The curving shapes on the right seem particularly resistant to interpretation.

Matthew Imms
June 2011

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘A West Country Scene with Figures, Buildings and Trees 1811 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 2011, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-a-west-country-scene-with-figures-buildings-and-trees-r1137131, accessed 24 April 2024.